Reconciliation

There was once a crystal mountain.
It took in the sunlight
and spread its colors over the land.
Everyone could see
all the colors more clearly then.
Some people mined the mountain,
chipping away small pieces
and carrying them home.

The smaller pieces, without the rest,
could not disperse the light as well.
One piece shone green;
another only blue.
Still others were orange or red.

As years passed
those who had looked
so long at the crystal pieces
they had taken home
claimed that only their color
was important.
Some went so far as to say
that only their colors existed at all -
that all the other colors were illusions.

"Return to the beginning,"
I was told, on my knees,
finally, as light came through
the stain-glass windows.